Icy crystals sparkled in the air. Drifting around her head, the soft illumination of the lantern caught the individual particles of moisture frozen by the sheer chill of the air causing the very air she breathed to gleam like a freshly polished diamond. Beside her, a puff of clouding steam pushed out of the elderly man's mouth with the raspy sound of his snore. The forest around them disappeared into blackness of night as the single lantern swaying from the post attached to the sleigh served as the only source of light for the young woman. Her hands gripped the reins as she watched the split hooves pad in front of her.
"We are almost there, Aimo," she called out to the weary reindeer pulling the heavy sled. "I know it is dark, but we are too close to make camp tonight."
Shifting the reins into one hand, she uses her now freed hand to pull her cloak closed over her shoulders. Her teeth chatter ever so slightly, "Careful now, dear. It is slippery."
The grunt of the deer pulling the sled responded in the sharp air. Suddenly as the rounded over the edge of the hill, a bright glow of a nearby town came into view through the sparkling frozen air. Soft balls of white snow began to drift down from the sky without a care as if they were white feathers drifting downwards without a care in the world.
"Look there Aimo," she smiled softly and flicked the reins. "There it is. Warmth!"
The deer seemed to recognize the town and padded his hooves in excitement. The deer began to run, causing the young woman to fall backwards in her seat. "Woah! Slow now!" She called, accidently pulling the reins tightly with her fall.
The deer stopped abruptly from the tension in the reins causing the sleigh to skid and tip to the side. The man beside her shook a bit, his eyes opening from the sudden jerking of the sleigh. "Marjaana," his gruff voice called out. Looking to her, she could see the clouds in his eyes causing them to glaze over in solid blue, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing papa," Marjaana said abruptly. Flicking the reins softly again, the deer began to move forward slowly again towards the soft glow of the town. "We are almost there. Just a little ways to go."
"It's dark Marjaana," her father grumbled. "You know we are not to keep going in dark."
"We were too close to stop papa," she said in a soft voice. "And you were asleep. We are almost there now, no worries."
"Do not keep going in the dark next time," he said sternly.
"Yes papa, I apologise. I will not do it again," she murmured. "But look, we are here."
"You're an idiot, Marjaana." He grumbled under his breath as he covered his head with the fur cloak again. "You could have killed us or get us lost continuing in the dark like that without being able to see where we were going."
"I knew where we were going papa, and look, we are here," she repeated, glancing towards him out of the corner of her eye.
The sound of snoring responded as Marjaana let out a faint sigh. The town grew nearer until the gate loomed over them. Pulling the sleigh to a gentle stop, she turned to look to her father. A gust of air brushed past them as she moved to lay her fur cloak over her father. Jumping out of the sleigh, she moved around the sleigh to grab a bag from the back. She moved towards towards the deer.
"Watch him for me, Aimo," she said as she patted the deer on the nose with one hand.
Then she moved into the gate with a soft breath of air escaping her mouth. A guardsman smiled to her and spoke up, "Good evening miss and welcome to Winter-Home."
